Method for manufacturing matches and match-booklets



Oct. 6, 1970 F. DE CAPITANI METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING MATCHES AND MATCH-BOOKLETS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 14, 1967 FRANCESCO d (1GP \TAIU,

INVENTOR.

BY mum m Oct. 6, 1970 F. DE CAPlTANl METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING MATCHES AND MATCH-BOOKLETS Filed Dec. 14, 1967 2 sheets sheet 2 FRANQESM de CQVITMU I NVENTOR.

United States Patent U.S. C]. 4447 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method for the industrial manufacturing of matches, comprising applying a strip of a pyrophoric compound on an essentially fiat combustible material, for instance wood or cardboard, drying the strip and cutting the flat material into a plurality of matches each of which carries at one end a portion of the pyrophoric strip. The invention further comprises a method for the manufacturing of match-booklets, in which a plurality of pyrophoric strips are applied on a sheet of combustible material, the sheet being thereafter partially slit into match stems which are mutually connected to form on the sheet a plurality of spaced match bands. The bands are thereafter cut into a plurality of match-booklets each of which consists of two indented side sections on which the match stems are formed and of an intermediate section with which the match booklet can be packaged.

BACKGROUND This invention relates to a method by which matches and similar means can be industrially manufactured and packaged in match-booklets with remarkable technological and economical advantages.

As already well known, whatever the technique presently followed in the making of matches may be, i.e. either for the production of discrete matches or of matches formed in sheets, with wooden stems or waxed paper tapes, the formation of a tip or friction head is required in all cases. Such tip is formed by briefly dipping the'end of each stem into a bath that consists of a paste having an already known pyrophoric composition, whereby a minute amount of the composition is retained as a droplet on the end, in order to form, after the drying of the paste, the match tip or head.

The step of forming such tip or friction head on matches requires very complex means and equipment, as well as a disproportionate amount of the highly expensive pyrophoric mixture, since for a proper formation and setting of the droplet it must contain a given amount of said mixture, which is practically in great excess over that theoretically required to ensure a regular ignition of matches.

Also, the manufacturing time cannot be decreased below certain limits, notwithstanding the use of the most modern and expensive equipment, since the end of stems, retained in suitable supporting means, are dipped into the pyrophoric mixture and then withdrawn therefrom, in order to obtain the individual formation of drop-shaped tips thereon.

Moreover, to ensure regular combustion of the stems, the fore portion thereof is usually impregnated, as al ready known, with paraflin, stearin or the like. According to presently followed technique, such impregnation is made before the tip or friction head is applied. Thus, the drying of the tip mixture must be made at relatively low temperatures, in the range of 3035 C., in order to prevent melting of the paraffin. A very long time is required at such temperatures for a thorough drying of the mixture, which results in the necessity of unusually large or complex drying chambers equipped with means for conveying therethrough the material to be dried.

At any rate, presently followed match-making techniques are essentially characterized by the separate formation of match tips obtained by setting a droplet that is retained on the stem end after the dipping thereof into a suitable mixture in the form of an essentially liquid solution. Such separate tip formation implies that at least the ends of said stems be kept spaced while being dipped and until the droplets are thoroughly set. Such a purpose can be attained by suitably tapering the stem ends or by alternately divaricating them in both directions, as in the cheap match-booklets made with waxed paper stems.

In addition, the tips as formed by the conventional procedures are very hard and stiff in order to be firmly retained at the stem ends; and this results in other drawbacks rising from the relative brittleness of tips, which are hardened nearly to a crystalline state, with consequent tendency to crush or break into pieces when subjected to compression or the like. In fact, the dangerous projection everywhere of ignited fragments of pyrophoric mix ture when a match is rubbed is a frequent occurence.

SUMMARY This invention consists in the provision of a method for the industrial manufacturing of matches, in particular but not necessarily packaged in match booklets, in which many advantages are attained in comparison with the conventional methods, both with regard to technical and economical manufacturing conditions as well as to the viewpoint of best utilization of required raw materials and mixtures.

In more detail, the main object of the present invention consists in the provision of a match-making method comprising the application of a strip or band of a pyrophoric composition onto a supporting material adapted to form match stems, the composition being applied to the supporting material in a position such as to obtain the match tips by slitting the material; the substantially complete drying of said composition; and then the slitting of the supporting material, the whole in such a manner as to prevent all drawbacks and to greatly reduce the limitation and technological difiiculties resulting from the conventional discrete formation of tips onto the spaced ends of the stems.

According to the invention, the material by which the stems are formed consists of paper, or cellulose, or woodfibre, or like pulp having originally or as result of a post-treatment the required properties of regular combustibility, stiffness and mechanical resistance. However, the use of other materials is excluded, on the condition they are sufiiciently inexpensive and posses the required combustibility as well as all other indispensable physical and mechanical properties. Thus, e.g., in addition to heavy papers and more particularly to cardboard having a suitable thickness, use could be made of fibre mixtures bonded by natural and/ or synthetic binders or the like, which can burn without producing harmful or disagreeable fumes or combustion products.

According to an advantageous mode of carrying the invention into practice, the material from which the match stems are obtained is sliced into the form of a continuous band from a veneer or sheet material and is perforated or at least intended through most of its thickness along the area to which the pyrophoric mixture is to be applied. This achieves a better bond between the applied mixture and the supporting material as well as the immediate propagation of flame across the sides of the material when the match is ignited.

According to another advantageous complemental feature of the invention, some matches and related stems can be formed on one side portion of the supporting sheet material, similar matches and stems being formed on the opposite side portion thereof, whereby a so called matchbooklet package can be obtianed by having the two portions, previously slit for severing the match stems, foldedup and then enclosed between the non-slit and likewise folded intermediate portions of the supporting material which thus form the cover of match-booklet.

A further object of this invention is to provide an article of manufacture resulting from the application of the above stated method, and more specifically: matches and match-booklets made according to the method as described in more detail later on.

The above and further features of the invention will be better appreciated from a consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, which essential components are shown as a not restrictive example only in the accompanying drawings.

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a match booklet made according to the preferred embodiment of the invention and packaged for storage;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the booklet of FIG. 1 with a few matches already utilized;

FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively, show on a greatly enlarged scale a longitudinal section of one end of a match stem, before and after the application of a pyrophoric mixture and of a compound designed to facilitate burning of the stem;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are fragmentary perspective views of a plurality of match-booklets according to FIGS. 1 and 2, wholly developed on a plane and connected side by side to demonstrate the possibility of a time-saving and inexpensive mass-manufacturing procedure as stated in more detail later on;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are fragmentary representations on the initial manufacturing steps of starting material according to a preferred embodiment of the present method;

FIGS. 9A and 9B similarly show two alternative methods for the application of a pyrophoric mixture to the starting material prepared according to FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 shows the same starting material at the end of processing operations thereof and before being severed into single sections, which are then folded into single match-booklets; and

FIG. 11 diagrammatically shows how the previously stated severing and folding operations are carried out.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Though the method according to the invention may be advantageously utilized for making loose matches designed to be differently packaged, e.g. in boxes or other packages containing a given amount thereof, it will be however disclosed hereinafter with reference to its preferred application, related to the manufacturing of match booklets as indicated by the reference letter B in the FIGS. 1 and 11, each of which comprises, as shown in the FIGS. 2 and 11, a plurality of parallel and side by side located matches extending from a portion 21 of the same material from which the stems are made. Each booklet has two portions 21 adjacent to symmetrical portions 22 that are connected in turn with a narrow, middle portion 23. As it can be readily appreciated, the back and sides of booklet are formed by the portions 22 and 23, all sections 20 to 23 inclusive, being made from a sheet material preferably of cardboard.

The ignition tip or head 24, made of the already known pyrophoric composition, is applied at the end of each match stem 20a that can be taken out by tearing it off (which operation can be facilitated by a previously made indentation, perforation or the like). Such composition, which application and the relative formation of match heads or tips will be described later on, appears on each tip in the form of a flat and uniform coating having a very small thickness, whereby for each match an amount thereof is required which is far less than that used on each tip of conventionally made matches. Moreover such coating, while it might be applied to one side only of stems 20a, preferably consists of two opposite layers, 24a and 24b (see FIG. 4). In addition, opposite layers are preferably joined with each other across perforations 25 (see FIG. 3) previously made in the supporting material, whereby the bond between tip and match body is improved and moreover, due to the formation of pyrophoric mixture bridges across the opposite layers 24a and 24b, the immediate and complete ignition of the whole pyrophoric mass is ensured quite apart from the point wherein the combustion is started by friction. A practically similar effect is obtained when, in place of perforations, deep opposite indentations are made such as to reduce the thickness of the material to a very small amount, whereby no appreciable obstacle to flame propagation exists. Recourse may be made also to other means to ensure a quick propagation of flame across opposite sides of the tip.

The combustion of the match stem may be facilitated by the application of thin parafline layers 26 (or more properly by impregnation with parafline) to a stem portion directly adjacent to the match head, as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, recourse may be made to a suitable treatment of paper material from which the match bodies are produced, which material can comprise, e.g., an oxidizing compound or at any rate a compound by which the ignition and propagation of flame is promoted and assisted.

A common feature of matches made according to the invention is the formation of heads or pyrophoric and combustion promoting portions before the sheet material is subdivided into discrete stems. A preferred sequence of manufacturing steps, applicable to the production of matches according to the invention as hereinbefore described, is shown by way of example only in FIGS. 7 to 11 inclusive.

In FIG. 7, M is a portion of the starting sheet material as previously defined and in a particular form of the invention is a continuous band having a width equal to at least one but preferably to many times the total width L corresponding to major dimension of a complete match booklet B as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The length of the band is subdivided into a plurality of shorter sections T each of which corresponds to the minor dimension of one match booklet.

The flat material, suitably conveyed by known mechanical means, is submitted to a first processing step (see FIG. 8), whereby close perforations or deep embossing or indentations 25 are made all along the lines A, by which the separation lines between the abutting portions having a width L are defined. T hen, the pyrophoric compound is applied all along the zones wherein said perforations 25 have been made. The compound may be applied either by a continuous slush casting by means of dispensers 27 (see FIG. 9A) suitable for handling a composition in the form of a thick paste, or also by having a narrow band of a highly combustible paper coated with said pyrophoric compound, e.g., unwound from a roll, bonded to said zones (see FIG. 9B), or in any other manner by which a strip of pyrophoric compound having a width at least twice the length of each match tip to be produced can be applied and bonded to one or both sides of the flat material in question.

Such application may be limited to one side only of material; however it is preferably made on both sides, thereby obtaining opposite layers 24a and 24b, as can be seen from a comparison of FIGS. 4 and 9A. This continuously made application may be performed by other procedures, e.g. by revolving ductor disks or rollers, dipping in a tray filled with a semiliquid pyrophoric mixture.

The compound thus respectively applied, directly (see FIG. 9A) or indirectly (see FIG. 9B), onto the perforated zones A of sheet material can be quickly dried at relatively high temperature, i.e. higher than 6080 C., passing by the material at a high speed through a drying oven or chamber, or other suitable equipment.

The preparation of starting material could be completed by an impregnation of the stem zones 26a directly adjacent to pyrophoric strips with paraffin or the like. Such application can be facilitated by taking advantage of the high temperature attained by the sheet material at the outlet of the oven wherein the pyrophoric compound is dried, by which the immediate melting and penetration of paraffin into the material structure are ensured.

The treatment of the baud material can be completed by the application of continuous or preferably reticular strips 29 made of a suitable phosphorous ignition composition, such as that utilized for the ignition of the socalled safety matches, to form friction surfaces 29 on one side of match booklets B.

As may be readily appreciated, since all the abovestated manufacturing stepsi.e. the application of pyrophoric mixtures, of paraffin, of phosphorous surfaces, as well as possible further stepsare performed on a continuous band, it is possible to perform them at high speeds, for instance in the range of to 40 metres per minute. The speed in practice is dependent on the availability and efiiciency of pyrophoric mixture drying equipment.

After the above operations, the band material is slit crosswise as at 30 (see FIG. 10), on either side of said lines A and said slits may be also staggered or offset on said either side, whereby to obtain, after the cutting of pyrophoric zones, square or pointed or other shaped tips and stems.

Thus the fiat material, after having been processed as shown in FIG. 10, need only be cut longitudinally along lines A and crosswise at intervals corresponding to lengths T to yield the elements which, after having been suitably folded become match booklets. The folding operation as diagrammatically shown in the left side of FIG. 11, could be made after the longitudinal cutting by which the match tips of adjacent booklets are severed, but before the transversal severing of single booklets.

The cutting of material, which therefore includes the severing of all zones or strips of pyrophoric mixture, can be facilitated by arranging and/ or temporarily maintaining the mixture in a substantially plastic condition or at any rate in a condition such as to prevent any danger of accidental ignition from the mechanical action of the cutting blades. This may be done e.g. by the addition of suitable plasticizers to the pyrophoric mixture and/or by performing the cutting operation before the mixture is wholly dried and hardened.

Obviously, since the invention has been described and shown only as a not restrictive example with the purpose of disclosing the essential features thereof and the most important advantages which can be drawn therefrom, it must be understood that all possible equivalent applications of the inventive conceptions which might be inferred from what precedes, and any equivalent product, process and industrial result that could be identified on the basis of the hereinafter defined features, shall be considered as falling within the range and scope of the present invention.

What I claim is:

1. A method for the continuous manufacture of a packet of coplanar and adjacent matches, each of said matches comprising a stem rooted at one end thereof to a common portion of said packet and having an ignitible head at the other end thereof, said method comprising continuously lengthwise progressing a sheet of combustible starting material having a width corresponding to a multiple of at least twice the length of said rooted match and common portion; continuously applying lengthwise to said sheet parallel strips of a heading composition, said applying step comprising spacing said strips at in tervals corresponding to at least twice said length of said rooted match and common portion, providing said strips in widths corresponding to twice the height of said ignitible head, and providing a number of said strips corresponding to said multiple; transversely cutting said sheet at intervals corresponding to the width of said stems, said cutting step comprising providing slits extending across each of said strips for a distance equal to the length of said stems; longitudinally severing said sheet at the symmetrical axis of each of said strips to thereby provide rows of integral packets; and transversely severing said rows to provide said individual packets.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising, prior to said applying step, perforating said sheet in the areas to be covered by said strips, and wherein said applying step includes applying said strips to both sides of said sheet, whereby said strips ignitibly communicate through said perforations.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said multiple is greater than one, whereby more than two rows are provided.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said width of said sheet corresponds to multiples of two times more than twice the length of said rooted match and common portion, such that sufficient material exists between said common portions to form match booklets.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, further comprising prior to said cutting step, applying a friction surface to said material to be formed into said booklets.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising, prior to said cutting step, applying a material having an accelerated and controlled combustibility to said sheets adjacent to said strips.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 483,166 9/1892 Pusey 532X 1,054,680 3/1913 Denmead 44-46 1,453,228 4/1923 Newman 532X 2,462,773 2/1949 Polacsek 44-44 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner N. ABRAMS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

